Government to redesignate hospitals for coronavirus, non-coronavirus care

Bengaluru, DHNS: The state government has formed a new five-member medical committee to differentiate government hospitals for COVID-19 and non COVID-19 care as part of its lockdown exit strategy.

These hospitals include Victoria Hospital, Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD) and the new Infosys Hospital in the city.

The notification was signed by M Jyothi Prakash, Additional Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare, said a detailed report needs to be made about a hospital’s suitability for either COVID-19 or non-COVID-19 care.

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The committee comprises Dr Pradeep Rangappa, an Intensive Care Surgeon at Columbia Asia Hospital, Dr C Nagaraj, Director of the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD), Dr Diwaker of the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI), Dr Giridhar Babu of the Public Health Foundation of India and Dr Asish Satapathy, Regional Team leader, South, World Health Organization (WHO).

Dr Giridhar Babu, one of the members, explained that the move was a result of the government’s efforts to promote non COVID-19 services in the city.

12 new cases in the city

Twelve new cases were reported in the city on Tuesday, many of whom are known primary contacts of previously identified cases.

Four of these are primary contacts of Patient 2796, a 48-year-old man who tested positive for the disease on May 30. However, Patient 2796 has no known source of the infection. These four individuals range in age from 17 to 38, which include two adult women, a man, and a teenager.

Two cases, a 40-year-old man and a 45-year-old man, are contacts of Patient 2519, a 61-year-old woman with Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI), who tested positive for Covid-19 on May 28.

For two of the 12 cases, no information is known about how they contracted the disease, while the rest four cases are all inter-state travellers - three from Delhi and one 65-year-old woman from Maharashtra.